Studio Prepared You for Everything (Except Architecture)

Architecture school was supposed to train you to design buildings. Instead, it trained you to navigate chaos, synthesize complex information, present evolving ideas with confidence, absorb critique without breaking, and deliver under impossible deadlines.

Here's what no one tells you: those aren't just survival tactics. They're transferable skills that make architects valuable everywhere. Period. Architects are designing systems, products, and strategies—not just buildings.

This talk breaks down the core competencies embedded in architectural training that extend far beyond design. We'll explore why the iterative process—cycling through dozens of ideas to find the right one—is exactly what businesses mean by innovation, and why companies like Apple and Adidas actively recruit architects when they need complex problems solved. We'll close with Q&A and share resources for your own exploration.

Whether you're exploring new directions, leading teams, or reframing your professional value, you'll leave with clarity about what makes architectural thinking unique—and how to communicate your skills across industries. Because understanding your value is the first step to leveraging it, wherever your path leads.

Speakers:
Erin Pellegrino, Principal, Matter; Co-founder and Advisor, Out of Architecture
Jake Rudin, Senior Manager, Digital Technologies, Adidas; Co-founder and Advisor, Out of Architecture

About the Speakers:
Erin Pellegrino is a strategist, designer, and registered architect who believes design is a powerful catalyst for change—a process of engaging with problems, opportunities, hopes, and world-shaping ideas. Through Matter, her design and fabrication studio, she transforms visionary concepts into extraordinary spaces, objects, and experiences that push standards and boundaries. She is the co-founder of Out of Architecture, a career resource community and talent services agency, and co-author of Out of Architecture: The Value of Architects Beyond Traditional Practice (Routledge, 2022). Her commitment to expanding design’s impact extends to academia, where she has taught at Harvard, Cornell, The New School, CUNY, and The New Jersey Institute of Technology. At NJIT she co-leads the design/build program focusing on public interest design. Her work has earned global recognition, including an Autodesk BuildSpace Fellowship, AIA New England Design Honor Award, Core77 Design Award in Built Environment, two Architizer A-plus awards, a Paul M. Heffernan International Fellowship, and a nomination for the EU Mies Van der Rohe Award. She holds an M.Arch II from Harvard Graduate School of Design, a B.Arch from Cornell University, and an MBA from the Quantic School of Business and Technology.

Jake Rudin is a strategy, design and innovation leader with over 15 years of experience in building things from the ground up. Working across a wide variety of company scales, countries, and areas of product (development, digitization, and prototyping), he has delivered manufacturing innovations, commercialized software, grown and scaled multi-city teams, and had a blast doing all of it. Most recently at adidas he was responsible for global teams in Computational Design, Digital Technologies, and Pattern Engineering—developing and implementing cutting-edge solutions for digital product creation, design automation, and data-driven footwear design. Rudin is also the co-founder and managing partner of Out of Architecture, a career consulting firm that helps creatively-driven architects and designers find roles that challenge and fulfill them. He is passionate about helping others discover and pursue their unique talents and aspirations, and he serves as a mentor, coach, and advisor for several startups, organizations, and individuals in the design and innovation space. Rudin has a diverse background in architecture, design, education, and business, with design degrees from both Harvard and Cornell, as well as an MBA. He has worked around the world as a designer for top firms, taught extensively in the academic field, and co-authored a book on design careers.